


From Away

by puck_buddy



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Dallas - Freeform, F/M, Fem!Roope Hintz, Finland, Friends to Lovers, Growing Up, Hockey, Loss of Virginity, Sexual Inexperience, Young Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:00:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22996582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puck_buddy/pseuds/puck_buddy
Summary: Young, in love, and soon to be 8,000+ kilometers apart.
Relationships: Miro Heiskanen/Roope Hintz
Comments: 4
Kudos: 15





	1. one.

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t know when this is gonna have smut yet, so I’ll change the tags accordingly.
> 
> Not beta’d, sorry.
> 
> Also, I wrote this while having a mental breakdown of sorts so please be patient with me.

Roope pushes a piece of her long blonde hair out of her face as she smiles down at Miro. Miro rolls his eyes, shaking his head slightly with a soft laugh. 

“Will you please come down? It’s going to get dark soon.” He asks, his voice the only sound in the park aside from the rustling of tree limbs in the cool, early evening breeze. 

Roope gives a quick nod before using her hands to stabilize herself so she can pull herself upright. When she’s no longer dangling upside down from the dome climber she looks back to Miro with a huge grin. 

Her legs are now hanging through one of the colorful triangles and she adjusts her skirt so it’s covering the fabric of her shorts. Miro comes to the side closest to Roope and holds out his hand so he can help her down.

She begrudgingly takes his outstretched digits and grips them tightly so she can slide down the bars on her butt. Her skirts rides up again as she does this, and once she’s on the woodchips of the playground she’s adjusting herself again. 

Miro waits patiently, watching as she fixes her skirt and subsequently her wedgie.  
He then takes her hand and gives it a gentle squeeze before they start their quiet walk home.

Finns aren’t known for their great conversation, in fact unless it’s a pressing issue they don’t like to talk. Small talk is just something they aren’t particularly fond of, same goes for eye contact, especially with strangers. 

They had been the only two at the park so when they vacate the climbing equipment, it looked huge and abandoned.  
They head down the dirt hiking trails towards the road to Miro’s house.

It’s early spring in Helsinki so the air has a delicious chill about it but isn't too painfully cold to be outside.  
As it gets darker, that air gets colder and Roope doesn’t realize how cold she is until Miro chivalrously wraps his warm coat around her.  
It smells like him and she makes an audible moan of contentment as the scent fills her senses. 

She squeezes his hand and comes to a stop on the path, her boot heels digging into the soft dirt as she presses a kiss to his lips. He leans into the kiss, hands automatically finding the small of her waist.  
He gives a gentle squeeze as their lips melt together, her chapstick slightly soothing his dry lips. 

“I can’t believe you’re going to America, it seems so far away.” Roope says, breaking the silence and the kiss at the same time. 

Miro looks confused for a split second, but his facial expression changes to sadness after his brain processes what she’s just said.

“It’s not going to be so bad, and you can still join me after you’ve finished your classes. I’ll take care of everything and all you’ll need to do is get onto the plane.” Miro says, adjusting to hold her hand again as they continue down the trail. 

“Still, Miro, late August to early January feels like a long time to be apart. What if you find some American girl and forget all about me.” Roope says, letting her insecurity seep through.  
They both know there is no way Miro would be unfaithful to Roope, they have been in love since practically childhood. 

Of course it started as a friendship, their parents knew each other and they were forced to hang out by circumstance. Miro has always been the quieter of the two, and it was usually Roope picking on him instead of the stereotypical opposite.

As children they played hockey on a team together but when the leagues were divided by gender as they got older, Roope left the sport and decided she would rather go to Miro’s games and privately practice with him than play on a team of her own.  
Roope was skilled and fast but Miro, Miro’s talent was indescribable.  
When they would play pond hockey during the frigid winter months in Finland, they would always have a small circle of people gather as they skated impressively fast laps while keeping several pucks juggling back and forth between their sticks.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I love you, there is nobody more well suited for me than you.” Miro says, leaning in to press a soft kiss to her cheek.  
His lips leave a damp spot and she loves it because it’s like the kiss lingers.  
Roope blushes deep red, face getting hot. 

“I love you too, I’m just paranoid. I’m just gonna miss you so damned much.” She replies, squeezing his hand tightly.

The rest of the walk is mostly quiet with the exception of the breeze making the greenery shake around them and a few small animals in the weeds just off the path. 

Once they arrive at Miro’s house he unlocks the front door and they kick off their shoes before stepping onto the carpet. Miro hangs up their jackets before they disappear upstairs to watch a movie in his room.  
His family doesn’t seem to be home, not that it would matter because they adore Roope, but since the house is empty they aren’t stopped and asked about their hike as they climb the stairs. 

Miro’s room is a nice size, and it’s decorated with modern grey furniture. He has some of his trophies and medals displayed on a shelf above his bed.  
There’s a Finnish flag mounted on the wall and a small hook that holds up his Dallas jersey from the 2017 NHL draft. 

Everytime he sees it he gets excited for his new life in Dallas, excited while still wishing he could stay home with Roope of course.  
The 2017-2018 season with HIFK would be wrapping up in the next month or so and then he and Roope would have one last summer together at home before he’d be over 8000km away in a foreign country playing NHL hockey with the Stars.

Roope was incredibly proud of him but seeing the jersey always tugged her heart strings. Losing him to the NHL would be a huge adjustment, especially since she couldn’t go to America until after her semester at Uni was over. 

She couldn't help but wonder what the Texan girls would think of her boyfriend. Would they pine after him as she did growing up? Before they were dating, when they were fresh teenagers, she had a huge crush on Miro. She always knew she wanted to be with him more than just platonically.  
Hopefully the girls in Texas wouldn’t be too much temptation. Roope wouldn’t be able to handle losing Miro, especially when it already felt like she was losing him because of the distance. This she knew for a fact.

When Miro had first gotten drafted she got lost on Instagram, stalking several beautiful girls from Tyler Seguin's following list who were based out of Dallas and seemingly single. They followed a lot of Miro’s new teammates, including Miro, and admittedly it made Roope feel a stab of jealousy. 

Miro grabs the remote from his desk, turning the TV on and tossing it towards the mattress. It lands on the center of his bedspread and bounces towards the edge once but doesn’t fall to the floor.  
Miro tugs his shirt off, tossing it toward the dirty clothes holder before grabbing a fresh one from his dresser. He gives it to Roope and she smiles happily before removing her own shirt and sliding the clean one that smelled like Miro over her head. Miro switches his loose jeans for black adidas joggers and checks his phone after retrieving it from the pocket of his jeans. 

Miro climbs into the bed, leaving a spot for Roope, and watches as she ties her hair back with the hair tie that lives around her wrist. Before she climbs into the blankets, she shimmies out of her floral skirt, but leaves her spandex shorts on.

Roope snuggles into Miro’s chest, gently tracing her fingers along his torso in random patterns.  
Miro opens Netflix and puts on a random show from his queue before wrapping his arms tightly around Roope.  
His fingers mimic her movements, returning the gentle massaging along her soft skin. They mindlessly watch the show, not realizing how late it’s become as the sun is soon completely gone. They fall asleep like this, the moonlight shining into Miro’s window and the light of the TV glowing dimly as the show plays. 


	2. two.

Roope wakes up before Miro. It’s actually too damn early for her to be awake either but it is what it is. The early morning light shines into the window, breaking the pitch black because now the TV is off so Miro probably woke up in the night and shut it off. Roope moves herself out of Miro’s grip gently, using silent caution not to wake him up. 

She opens the door to his room and slips into the hallway quietly. As the door shuts behind her she notices Miro’s sister is leaving the bathroom. They make eye contact and Miira smiles at Roope with tired eyes. 

“Good Morning.” Miira greets, and Roope turns herself all the way around to face Miira. Miira is still in last nights clothes. Roope notices her makeup is smudged and oxidizing before Miira wipes at it with a makeup wipe. 

“Good Morning, you got in late last night? Or I guess this morning.” Roope accuses playfully, raising an eyebrow at Miira’s early trip to the bathroom. 

“I was just out with my friends, the time kind of got away from us.” She says, pressing her lips together to hold back a laugh. She continues to use the makeup wipe along her face, getting off a majority before grabbing a second wipe from the package in her hand.

Roope knows exactly what “friends” she was out with as the only person Miira has been notably talking about lately is the new boy she’s seeing.

“Right, your friends. And how is Tomi?” Roope asks, grinning when Miira’s face glows bright red. 

“H-he’s good. Thank you for asking.” 

That’s all Miira can choke out in embarrassment which is ridiculous, it’s not like Roope has ever judged her before. The judgment wouldn’t begin now, especially over a boy. 

Roope nods, taking it as a cue to change the subject or end the conversation. She chooses the ladder since she really has to pee.

Roope gently pats Miira’s shoulder to excuse herself and enters the bathroom before turning the light on and looking at herself in the mirror.  
Her blonde hair is barely tied back anymore and in little tangles around her face. She digs into a drawer for her brush and sits down to pee while combing away the knots.

Once her business is taken care of, she replaces the brush in the drawer and then washes her hands. Roope then grabs her toothbrush from the holder beside the sink and takes her time brushing her teeth while examining her face in the mirror. She picks at a couple skin spots and clears the few visible blackheads along her skin. 

Her blue eyes look well rested and overall her skin looks pretty good today, maybe a bit oily but fairly blemish free.  
She spits the last of the foam into the sink and collects her hair in one hand before leaning down to rinse with the water from the tap.

Before leaving the bathroom she dries her face and hands with a towel and then shuts the light off.  
The hallway is empty this time, Miira has gone to her room and hopefully to sleep. 

Roope heads back to Miro’s room, entering as quietly as she had gone. Once she’s inside she grabs her phone from the desk and slides back into the warm bed where Miro is still asleep. Instinctively his arm wraps around her waist and she’s immediately blanketed with his warmth. 

She scrolls through her notifications, texting her mom back and replying to a few snapchats before locking her phone and sliding it under the pillow.  
It’s only 6:30am, she shouldn’t even be awake. 

Roope rolls over so her face is even with Miro’s and she watches him sleep.  
His eyelids are delicately closed, he looks so peaceful and beautiful. How is it possible to be attracted to someone so much while they’re sleeping? 

Roope can’t help herself, so she leans in and peppers kisses along his sleeping face and the corners of his lips. One of Miro’s eyes opens and he smiles before kissing her back. His eye shuts again but his arms pull her closer to his bare chest. 

“Should be asleep.” He mumbles into the kiss and Roope can’t help but giggle.

“If I was asleep I wouldn’t be able to kiss you right now.” She says back, and he nods along with her response. 

“That’s true.” He replies, eyes still closed before pressing another kiss to her lips.

Roope lets her fingers trace Miro’s abs. He shudders as her fingers press into the indents of his muscles while slowly moving towards his groin.  
She looks towards him with the cutest smile across her face but his eyes are still closed.

Her eyes fall down to the blanket, which moves as she traces circles into his lower stomach. Her fingers press into the skin above his hip bone. His breath hitches when her fingers reach the waistband of his joggers. When she slides two fingers in between his skin and his boxers his leg twitches.  
Her hand is about to fully dip beneath the fabric when his hand moves to catch hers.

His larger hand completely envelopes hers and he gives a gentle squeeze before lifting their hands to his mouth. Roope’s eyes meet Miro’s, which are now wide open, and Miro presses a gentle kiss to the back of her hand. 

They haven’t really had any real sexual experiences together. Roope is slightly older, and has had boyfriends before Miro so she admittedly isn’t a virgin anymore. It’s the opposite with Miro though. He hadn’t been in a relationship before Roope and he wasn’t going to rush them. It’ll happen when it happens.  
Roope honestly regrets losing her virginity before she could give it to Miro. 

She wants him, of course she does, but she wants to wait until he’s ready to take that step.  
It’s hard because, for a teenage girl, her libido is insane.

“I’m up, I’m up babe,” Miro says, pushing himself up onto his left elbow. He stretches his right arm up, letting his back pop before resting the arm on the left side of Roope so he’s propped up over her body. “You tease.”

She giggles and lifts her head enough to press a kiss to his lips while cupping his jaw.  
The kiss is sloppy and passionate. Miro lowers himself so their bodies are closer and moves his lips from her mouth to her jaw then down to her neck.  
He bites and sucks softly at the sensitive skin and she tilts her head upwards to expose more of herself to him.

His presses kisses along her neck and sucks gently at the skin, although he is careful not to leave any marks.  
He would never hear the end of it if anyone saw Roope with hickies.  
Roope moans softly beneath Miro when he finds the most sensitive part of her neck and focuses his tongue on it.

The closeness of their bodies reveals how much Miro is actually into this and Roope can’t help but pant with need as she runs her fingernails down his back roughly.  
Miro grunts before grinding his hips into Roope’s slightly as he presses his lips against hers once again. 

Miro smiles to himself before pulling away and Roope whines as his warm mouth leaves hers.

“I’m gonna go take a shower.” He announces, pressing one final kiss to her lips and climbing off the mattress.  
She makes grabby hands towards him as he snatches the towel that hanging from his desk chair.

“You’re the teaseeee.” She whines, drawing out the word. Miro smirks, using the towel to cover his obvious erection before heading to the bathroom.


	3. three.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not Beta’d 
> 
> Can’t believe we have been in a pandemic for the entire six months since I last updated. My apologies.

Roope sits alone to watch the game. She hasn’t bothered making friends with the other girlfriends, she’s not big on girl friends anyways.

Roope chews on her nails as she watches the puck, following every play as if she was a player herself. When someone in red misses the net on a breakaway, Roope groans along with the crowded stadium before opening her phone and beginning to scroll through social media.

She takes a snap of the ice rink and posts it to her story with a bunch of heart stickers and a time stamp, mostly just to waste a bit of time, before turning her attention back to the game.   
The third period is somewhat uneventful but eventually Miro’s team wins so it’s a good night.

They’re going to Roope’s house tonight. Which they try to avoid because Roope’s family isn’t particularly pleasant, but Miro hasn't been over in a while and Roope promised he would come to dinner so they’re stuck going.

Miro grabs Roope’s waist, startling her off her phone and she quickly turns to face him.   
“You looked amazing out there.” She says, arms reaching up slightly to fall around his neck. Miro pulls her in, smiling happily before pressing his lips to hers. 

“Ready to go?” He asks, and she nods unenthusiastically. 

“If we must.” Roope says, voice dropping as she pulls away. She adjusts her over priced purse on her shoulder, and frowns as Miro slings his hockey bag on his.

“It’s not that bad.” Miro says, grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. He kisses her knuckles as they walk in silence. 

Of course Roope is over thinking, she always does.   
She absolutely hates that her family doesn’t like Miro, they give him so much hell for no reason. It kills her she has to bring him over there, and that he’s so damned nice about the jabs.  
Soon they’re out of the rink and Miro is opening the car door for Roope before going to throw his bag into the trunk. She slides onto the leather seat and he comes around to close her door before getting to the drivers side. 

The drive to Roope’s house isn’t a long one, and as they have done it several times Miro doesn’t need directions. Once they pull into the driveway Miro looks over at Roope with a smile.

“It’s gonna be fine, it always is.”

Roope nods and Miro gently kisses her forehead before getting out of the car. 

As they walk to the door Roope takes a deep breath and as she pushes her key into the lock she looks at Miro one last time with an apologetic look.

Roope’s mom had dinner pretty much ready. She made soup, Lohikeitto, and there was a loaf of Rye bread baking in the oven.   
Miro and Roope enter the kitchen, and Roope’s mom smiles at her. She sets the wooden spoon onto the counter and wraps her arm around Roope.

“Hi mom.” Roope says, hugging her mom back slightly. Once her mom pulls away, she gives Miro a once over and pity smiles.

“You must’ve just gotten out of the rink, I can tell. You look exhausted, and your hair is still a bit wet. Hopefully, from a shower.” Her voice is chipper, and happy but her words are frosted with a delicious heap of sarcasm. 

Miro forces a laugh and nods.  
“Yes, from a shower. I guess it didn’t have time to finish drying on the way over. What are you making? It smells amazing.”  
He’s gotten good at changing the subject.

Roope gets them both a drink while her mother talks about school or the news, honestly Roope has tuned her out. 

Once the meal is ready everyone takes a seat around the table, it’s only extremely awkward for about five minutes before simmering down to a mildly awkward.

Roope’s family does their usually picking at Miro, specifically her brother. 

Miiko wanted to play NHL and well let’s just say that nobody has ever heard the name Miiko Hintz at the draft.  
The whole Hintz family seemed to dislike Miro purely out of jealously. Miro’s family wasn’t as well off as the Hintz family. The Heiskanen’s were average in every way, especially when it came money. They were never poor by any means, but they were constantly splurging on weekend trips to Greece or Louis Vuitton wristlets either. It seemed to bother Roope’s parents they couldn’t buy their son a NHL career but Miro had managed to earn himself one with pure raw talent. 

Roope tried her best to mediate and for every subtle jan they would take she would try to deflect or even just change the subject. 

After dinner, Miro and Roope do the dishes in tandem. Any other night she would go back to spend the night with Miro, but after dinner with her parents it’s an unspoken expectation that she stays home. 

Roope walks with Miro to the door, and they step out into the front force to say their goodbyes. The door closes behind them gently and Roope wraps her arms around Miro tightly.

“Thank you for always putting up with them, I know it sucks. After I graduate, we can get our own place.” She says into his neck.  
He nods, brushing her hair out of his face. 

“I know, it’ll be here before you know it.”  
He says, smiling softly.

Roope presses her lips to his jaw, then his cheek, then his lips. 

“I love you.” Roope says, pulling away. 

“I love you too.” Miro says, a smile spreading across his face as he turns to head back to his car.  
She watches from the porch and once he is in his car she heads back inside. 

She climbs up the stairs, careful not to be too loud and goes into the bathroom to shower. 15 minutes later she’s climbing into bed clean and in one of Miro’s shirts. She’s scrolling through social media in the dark when her FaceTime rings and it’s Miro he’s also in bed but between both of their lights being out they can only see each other’s silhouette.   
She puts the closest set of headphones in and connects them to her phone and then places the phone on the pillow next to her.

This is their routine when they can’t be together because Miro is traveling for games or any other circumstance. 

They don’t really speak, the call isn’t for that. They’re both comforted by the sound of each other’s breathing, it’s familiar and relaxing. It started as accidentally falling asleep while talking late into the night on FaceTime and turned into these calls just to fall asleep. It’s probably not healthy, but Roope is gonna enjoy these while she can because their sleeping schedule will be much different when he’s far away in the US.

Her eyes get heavier and soon she can hear the very quiet snores Miro makes while he sleeps. She rolls onto her side, back tacking the pillow where her phone is and she tries her best to pretend he’s there with her before she’s just too tired to stay awake anymore and she falls asleep.


	4. miro.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> so the chapters are shorter now because I want this to have 24 chapters, cause duh 
> 
> still not Beta’d

The rest of Miro’s last season in Finland skates by. At his going away party, Roope is drunk and she feels like crying more than she feels like celebrating. It’s basically a team party but with Miro’s family and some school friends sprinkled in.   
Roope is on the balcony just sort of staring into the dark distance and taking in the late summer air. August in Finland is nice during the days, and cooler in the evening. 

She looks at her hands, cupping the glass tightly before taking another long sip. The alcohol stings her throat slightly but goes down easy. She’s been drinking for years, this is nothing.

She hears the sliding glass door close behind her but she doesn’t look. She takes another sip of her drink before she feels Miro’s arms wrap around her waist. His chin rests on her shoulder as he holds her in silence. His warm engulfs her and she can smell the sweat, alcohol, and deodorant radiating from him.

“I don’t want you to go,” She says, finally breaking the silence, but then she realizes how selfish that sounds so she speaks again, “No, I mean I obviously want you to go because this is amazing and I know what playing in the NHL means but I don’t want you to be so far.”

Miro nods before nuzzling into her neck.   
God damn it, she’s gonna miss this.

Miro finally speaks, his lips against her neck gently.  
“It won’t be long before you graduate and you can come to America and be with me.” 

He’s right, she graduates in the spring. That’s only one hockey season apart and by the time Miro comes home for the off season, Roope will be packing to join him in Texas.

“I know, it just seems so long.”

Miro loosens his grip on her waist, swiftly spinning Roope to face him. He leans his forehead against hers and smiles. 

“It’s gonna fly by, my love.” He says and Roope’s heart skips at the nickname. Neither of them are very creative with their use of nicknames but when Miro drinks, they slip out. 

Roope kisses Miro gently, cupping his face and holding him closer to her.

“Come on, let’s go back inside and enjoy the party.”   
She says after pulling away. He nods, taking her hand and leading her back inside.


	5. five.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> double update? Yes.   
> I’m in a writing mood after that W tonight. We are in such a good spot so fingers crossed for the Stars.
> 
> still not beta’d :D

At first, every day without Miro feels like an eternity.  
Roope has gotten so used to doing everything together with him and him not being in Finland feels so strange.

They call as often as they can when he first leaves, but once the regular season starts their FaceTimes get less frequent. 

Roope tries to find a distraction in school work. She buries herself in her homework but occasionally she lets herself get tangled in social media. Dozens of girls are throwing themselves at her boyfriend. Not that she would admit it to him, but secretly she’s still logged into Miro’s Instagram so she sees the DM requests. 

The DM’s are from girls who Roope deems SO much prettier than herself. It’s an absolute blow to her self esteem. God, there are so many thirst traps.

One day, after failing an exam, she’s not really in the mood to talk but she answers the FaceTime from Miro anyways. It’s been too long since they last talked and she can feel the thousands of miles starting to drive a wedge between them.

“Moi!” Miro greets, drying his hair with one hand as he positions the camera with the other.

“Hei.” Roope says back, trying her best to put on a happy voice for her boyfriend. After all, he’s shirtless and seems to be in a good mood. She doesn’t want to ruin it.

“How are you? How is class?” He asks, slinging the towel around his shoulders and giving Roope his undivided attention.

“Oh, it’s fine. Actually it’s not, I don’t really wanna talk about it if that’s okay.” She says, tone slipping from fake happy to real. 

“Yes, sorry.” He says, and they sit in an awkward silence. Normally, just being in each other’s presence would make Roope feel better but it’s not working today.

Miro gets a notification, Roope only knows because she hears his phone buzz, and he clicks out of their call to another app. That’s weird for him but she doesn’t question it.

“Hey, it’s late so I have to go. We have practice in the morning and I need to get some sleep.” He says, clicking back into the call. 

“Okay, I don’t want to keep you.” It’s half past midnight in America and she would feel bad if she’s the reason he’s tired at practice tomorrow. 

“I love you.” He says, and Roope nods. 

“I love you too.” She responds and the call is ended before she can get in another word.

It’s weird how fast that call was. No matter what time it is after a game, Miro will usually give her at least twenty minutes. Then when she calls him late at night while she studies, they can talk for hours.

Roope clicks to Instagram, and she ‘accidentally’ opens Miro’s page. He’s actively messaging someone, a girl. Roope sees the messages appearing and then sees that Miro is reading them immediately. 

Roope repeats the username to herself while she switches to her own profile. She types the @ into the search bar and then starts going through her page. 

God, she’s gorgeous.

Roope switches back to Miro’s profile and clicks the conversation while the latest message is still read.  
Miro is being his usual awkward self, his broken English is hard to navigate and in any other circumstance Roope would think it’s endearing. There’s hundreds of messages back and forth with this girl. 

None of them seem sexual, or even remotely like cheating honestly, but Roope’s stomach flips around at the thought.

She goes back to his DMs and notices more girls at the top of the message list. She goes through his messages and feels uneasy at the amount of girls he’s chatting with. They all slid in first but he accepted the DM and is actively talking to the girls.  
She doesn’t find anything that would indicate cheating, and in a lot of the cases he actually told the girls about Roope, but it still doesn’t sit right.

She types out a paragraph and then sends it before locking her phone and tossing it to her bed. 

The message says something along the lines of, 

Roope: ‘I don’t want to be the reason you can’t do what you want in America. I want you to explore it and enjoy yourself. I think we should take a break so you can see what Texas has to offer. I love you.’ 

“Immediately she gets a call from Miro which let’s ring until it goes to voicemail and he calls again. It’s about six calls and voicemails later before he sends a message. 

Miro: ‘I don’t want that. Where is this coming from? Call me.’

Roope: ‘It’s okay, I have to focus on my classes and you’re out there killing iit in your rookie season. Go enjoy it.’

Miro: ‘call me’

Roope: ‘I can’t, I’m sorry.’ 

Miro doesn't reply again.


	6. six.

It’s been days since that exchange and Roope sees he’s active on Instagram but he hasn’t reached out to her.  
Miira and Roope meet up for coffee after a few more days.

“It’s so weird he hasn’t tried calling. Have you talked to him?” Roope asks, taking a sip from her cup. 

“I talked to him yesterday actually, he’s doing well. The Stars are on a small win streak right now and he’s enjoying the new cities.” Miira replies, trying her best to update Roope.  
They’re both holding this is a short break, Miira has been rooting for them since they started dating initially. 

“I miss him, I think I want to go visit. We have a school break coming up and it’s his first time away from home for the holidays. Plus, I don’t want to fix this over text. I really just need to see him.” 

Miira smiles widely when Roope suggests going to America.   
“  
“I think that’s a great idea, I’m sure he would love some company. Especially so close to the holidays. I think you should go.” 

And with that, the next morning Roope books a ticket.  
It only takes a bit of convincing, but her parents agreed to pay for the trip so long as she is home for the actual holidays. As much as they don’t like Miro, they love to spoil their children with anything they want.  
Roope’s mom even feels kinda bad for her. The adjustment period of losing Miro and starting her last year of classes has been rough on her daughter and she hopes this trip will lift her spirits. 

Roope spends the next week before her trip packing and getting her break assignments completed so she doesn’t have to worry about them while she’s in America. It’s a lot of work, but it’ll be so worth in.

The flight is long.  
LONG.  
It’s the kind of long that you go past the point of boredom to the point of antsy for 14 straight hours. 

Roope got all of the information about where Miro is living from his sister. She has the address and his apartment number so all that’s left is for her to get off the plane and into an Uber. 

It’s not until she’s about an hour from landing that she decides to go to the rink first. It would be fun to surprise him at practice.   
Since it is an overnight flight, she’s gonna land right around the time the Stars will be starting practice and since Dallas practices are open to the public, she’s gonna use it to her advantage. She might as well see for herself what he has been working on during their time apart.  
Admittedly, the best part of visiting America, besides Miro of course, is all of the NHL hockey she’s gonna get to experience live. 

Roope must have finally drifted off because she was woken up the pilot announcing over the loudspeaker that they will be making their descent into DFW shortly and asking all the passengers to please buckle up.

The trip around the airport is stressful, there’s so many people and though she speaks English it’s overwhelming. Her memory is hazy from the exhaustion, but as she finds an energy drink at the nearest airport convenience store and chugs it, she’s ready to hop into the Uber to Frisco. It’s a pricey Uber, not that it matters, and the ride is pretty long. She puts on a bit of makeup, not a lot but enough to hide the exhaustion. 

When she gets to the arena it’s about 11:45am and the practice is just about over since it’s set to end at noon. She didn’t really think through the suitcase, so she is stuck dragging it behind her in the chilled arena. 

She walks down the hallway and through a set of glass doors. She sees the Stars on the ice, running drills and it takes a second for her to spot Miro. He’s in black with the other defenseman and he’s focusing intently on whatever the coach is saying. His hair is longer, not much but noticeably so. It sticks out under his helmet and Roope smiles to herself. Roope takes off her backpack and slings it around the suitcase handle so her back can rest. She’s been lugging it around for what feels like hours. 

It’s a Monday, so there’s not too many people at the arena, but there’s a group of girls standing a few feet away from where she was leaning against the glass. They are giving her weird looks because of the suitcase. 

Roope throws the hood of her adidas sweatshirt over her head, concealing her face and hair. She watches quietly and there’s only 3 minutes left in practice when Miro finally looks up at her. 

Roope doesn’t think he knows it’s her at first. She smiles widely as Miro does a double take. He blinks hard, and she figures he is probably trying to figure out if she is really there or if he thinks he’s seeing things. 

After practice is over, he leaves the ice quickly and hurries into the locker room where he does the fastest post practice change and shower ever.

He comes flying out of the metal doors, his hair still dripping from rinsing it in the shower.

“You are here.” He says clearly surprised and a smile spreads across his face.   
She’s not imaginary.   
He rushes over and pulls her into a tight hug before pressing his lips to her forehead. 

“I have missed you so much.” He says, pressing more soft kisses along her face. After a second of taking her in, he realizes where they are and takes a step back. There’s a deep pink blush appearing across his face. He clears his throat before reaching across the barrier to grab her bags.   
“Come on, let’s go.” He says, lifting the barrier for her to come with him and Roope obliges before taking his free hand and following Miro through the locker room doors to the hallway on the other side. 

Once the doors close behind them, Miro grabs Roope by her waist. He lifts her gently as he backs them both against the wall of the hallway.   
“Oh my god, I missed you so much.” Miro says, voice cracking slightly, before kissing her again and again.


	7. seven.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> there’s not full on smut but it does get hot and heavy so this is a warning :)

Miro waits to introduce Roope to the team, it’s not important now. There is so much to catch up on and they’ve been apart for what feels like ages. Besides, they have the team dinner for the upcoming holiday tonight so there will be plenty of time for mingling then.

He carries her backpack and suitcase to the car. He opens the door for her before loading the bags into the trunk. He closes her door before getting into the drivers side.   
Roope smiles as Miro takes her hand. She gives his fingers a tight squeeze and watches out the window as Miro pulls onto the street. 

Texas is so much different than she thought. Admittedly she assumed it would be like it is in movies, a huge desert with tumbleweeds everywhere. 

They drive for longer than Roope anticipated, though it’s only 20 minutes, and Miro pulls into a gated parking garage. Dallas is beautiful, the streets are so modern and it’s so different from Finland. The people are more diverse and there’s so much going on at all times. Miro drives up a couple floors before parking on level three. 

He lets Roope out and grabs her bags before leading her to the door in the corner of the garage. They take an elevator up and then there’s one more hallway before Miro is unlocking his apartment door.   
When you enter the apartment and down the hall to the living room, you can see the entire skyline of Dallas. The furthest wall from Roope is almost entirely windows and the view is incredible. 

Roope presses her hand to the glass as she stares out the window.

“It’s nice, huh? Esa helped me pick it, I told you about Esa, right? He’s been great and a huge help.” Miro says, smiling at Roope’s impressed expression. 

“It’s beautiful.” Roope finally musters, the rest of her words vanished in amazement. 

“I had Seggy help with the interior stuff. I think he did a great job.” Miro says and Roope turns from the window to face the rest of the living room. The room is decorated with tasteful, modern pieces. Nothing too crazy because Miro is still just a teenage boy, but it looks great and fits perfectly with Miro’s aesthetic. 

Roope plops down onto the plush black sofa. She grabs the closest throw pillow and places it onto her lap. She runs her fingers along the velvet and smiles up at Miro. 

“It looks great, everything looks great.. Are you happy?” She asks. It’s important, it’s all she wants. 

“Texas is great and the fans are good. I just miss you.” He says as he sits beside her. He places his hand on her thigh, gently running them along the fabric of her leggings. 

She presses a kiss into his jaw and then moves her lips to the tender spot on his neck.   
She still remembers.  
He grunts and exposes more of his flesh to her and she tosses the pillow aside before climbing into his lap. Her legs are wrapped around his waist and she grinds herself into him. She feels his erection start growing as she moves her body into him more. Now she’s sucking more roughly on his neck, intending to leave dark hickies along his skin. He’s hers.

Miro rugs at her sweatshirt, tossing it to the ground before pressing his lips into her collar bone. He runs his teeth along her flesh and she moans in response. 

“Miro..” Roope manages, breath heavy as her fingers tangle into his hair. He does the same thing to her, leaving hickies on her neck and shoulders. 

He unclasps her bra, leading it down her arms gently before letting his lips glide downwards to her nipples.   
His tongue runs along her breast and she inhales sharply.

“Miro?” She says, this time more firmly. He pulls away and looks at her. 

“Hm?” He questions, raising an eyebrow. 

“Are you sure you want to do it like this?” Roope asks, pressing a kiss to his lips.

He looks at her confused, and thinks for a moment before speaking, “Do what like this?”

“Lose your virginity,” she answers, pausing to kiss him again, “Do you want this? Are you ready?” Roope brushes Miro’s hair off of his face and kisses his nose.

“Oh.. that.. yeah.. I already.. did.” He says in a low, quiet voice.


	8. eight.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THE STARS ARE GOING TO THE FINALS !!!! HOLY SHIT.

“You w-what?” Roope asks, voice cracking. Thinking that there is no way she heard that right.   
When he left four months ago, he hadn’t even gotten completely naked in front of Roope. 

“Well you said.. we were taking a break and I went out with some of the guys and-“ Miro starts and Roope pushes herself off of him. 

“You’re being serious. Oh my god.” She reaches for her sweatshirt and pulls it over her head. 

“Roope, I’m so sorry. It was really dumb but it happened and I didn’t want to lie to you and I was gonna tell you but you weren’t talking to me.”

What a fucking joke. It takes two to have a conversation and he didn’t try to reach out to her either.

“I spent those two weeks working my ass off in class and preparing to come see you and you spent it hooking up with random girls?” 

“I didn’t ask you to come.” Miro shoots back and by his expression she can tell he instantly regrets it.

“Maybe I should just leave then.” She suggests, scoffing. She walks down the hallway and picks a random door to slam behind her.   
She finds herself in the bathroom. Her eyes are puffy and she looks like she’s about to start crying,

The point is not that he lost his virginity, that would make her a hypocrite. The worst part of this is that he had no problem using their break, that he argued against taking, to hook up with undoubtedly the girl he was ditching her to talk to whole they were together. 

She stares at herself in the mirror and wipes the tears that have formed in the corners of her eyes.

She composes herself before stepping out of the bathroom, time feels imaginary, but the sun is beginning to set over Dallas so she was definitely in there for longer than she meant to be. 

Miro is in his room getting dressed for the party when Roope walks out from the bathroom. She leans onto the bed and crosses her arms. Obviously Roope is hurt, that’s not gonna change, but she doesn’t want to waste the trip in the bathroom. 

Miro fastens his watch before looking to Roope in the reflection of the mirror he’s in front of.

“I want you to come with me but if you don’t want to I understand.” He says, and Roope nods.   
She’s not in a very party mood but she’ll go be nice and meet his team regardless.

Luckily, Roope brought a dress. She figured they would go out to dinner a day this week and it would come in handy which it is. Apparently the Stars rented out a restaurant for the party and it’s a business casual type place. 

Roope curls her hair and ties it into a half up-half down ponytail. She does a quick makeup, because she can’t be bothered with a full face of makeup, and then changes into the silver dress. It falls above her knees but it’s tasteful. The skirt of the dress is two layers of ruffled gray fabric and the top part is stitched with silver beading around the breast area. 

They leave later than Miro wanted to but they’re not so late that anyone notices. They’re not even the last ones to arrive either so it’s fine and Roope doesn’t feel bad for making him late.   
The car ride is mostly quiet, the radio making it more bearable. When they pull into the parking lot, Miro does his usual routine where he helps her out of the car. She follows closely behind Miro and they head toward the restaurant.

Roope tries her best to remember names but it’s becoming more and more difficult as she drinks.  
Thank god the bartenders are not checking IDs because she is not legally allowed to drink in America and this would be a lot less fun without alcohol. 

Miro and Roope get separated at some point and Roope is talking to some of Miro’s team mates. She’s not really paying attention to the conversation but she is suddenly paying attention when the Captain, Jamie she thinks, apologizes for taking Miro to wingman for him and Seggy.   
He’s drunk, he’s gotta be drunk because there’s no other reason he would be word vomiting about using her boyfriend as girl bait otherwise. 

Roope fakes a laugh as Jamie fills her in on exactly what happened when their “break” began. 

Jamie tells her that Miro seemed upset the next day at morning skate and somehow Tyler and Jamie offered to take the 18 year old out with them after the game to help ‘cheer him up’. Jamie had managed to convince Miro that “it doesn’t count as cheating if they suggest a break and/or they don’t find out” which should’ve been red flag number one of many.   
Tyler picked up that night, Jamie picked up that night, and somehow even with his broken English and baby face Miro picked up that night. 

A small part of Roope is relieved that it wasn’t the same girl from Instagram. 

Roope decides she doesn’t like Jamie when she meets Katie and Taylor. Katie seems lovely and like she’s gone through too much to be playing games with Jamie. 

The best part about NHL parties, Roope thinks, is that everyone seems to spill their life stories when they’re drunk and meeting new people. 

The night is moving along and Roope doesn’t really feel her face anymore when she meets Denis.  
Gurianov is sweet, and smart. She is able to talk about Miro in the same way everyone else has been talking about their partners to party goers. He’s a great listener and even better at giving advice.  
He is definitely flirting with Roope too, or maybe he isn’t and she’s just too drunk to know the difference between genuine kindness and flirting but regardless the tension is there. She’s flirting back between her Miro tangent, or maybe she’s not. The line is very blurry. 

They step onto the balcony of the restaurant for some fresh air. His hand is a little too close to Roope’s on the rail and she exhales sharply. The mixture of alcohol with lack of food and sleep is getting to her and she suddenly doesn’t feel well. 

It’s so quiet that Roope can hear her own breathing and when she turns to Denis to excuse herself, he leans in and kisses her. 

She freezes, eyes open, as her brain processes what is happening. She pulls away after a second and he looks at her.   
“I am sorry, I don’t know why I-“ he begins to apologize but is cut off when Roope pukes onto both of their shoes.


	9. nine.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> okay this is the last chapter I have pre written so it might be longer between updates now ... also not beta’d

vittu. Fuck. Oh my god,” she curses, the Finnish slipping through though she knows Denis won’t understand it. He says something in Russian too, probably a swear word, and then he looks up at her. “I am so sorry Denis, I didn’t mean to.. it wasn’t you. I mean you did kiss me but..” 

Her words trail off into the night and they both stand still, unsure of what to do next. Denis uncaps the bottle of water in his hand and pours it over the vomit, rinsing it off of her heels before doing his shoes. He takes Roope’s half empty bottle from the ledge of the balcony and continues.

“That’s new.” He mumbles, as he empties the second bottle. He crushes the plastic and puts the cap back onto both before turning to the door. 

“Roope, you should forget this happened and we will go inside.” He says, before he reaches for her arm. Roope allows herself to be lead inside and he finds her a fresh water bottle. Her toes are wet from the water bottles and it’s much more difficult to walk than it was before the shoes were slippery. She sips the bottle of water as Denis scans the slightly depleted crowd for Miro. 

Miro is talking to Esa and Anna, his girlfriend, and as soon as Denis sees them he helps get Roope most of the way there by leading her in their direction. He stops short, not really wanting to explain the entire situation to his teammate, and watches to make sure Roope doesn’t fall over. As soon as Roope reaches Miro, Denis finds a conversation to join to distract him from that awkward situation on the balcony.

Roope drapes an arm around Miro, leaning onto him more than she would like to and once he feels her weight increasing, he politely excuses them from the conversation. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Miro asks and Roope nods. “Yeah, I think so. I just don’t feel well. Can we go?”

Miro takes her hand and without another word they leave the party. He helps her into the car and does a double and triple check to be sure she has her wristlet and her phone before he pulls out of the parking spot. 

Once they get back to his apartment Miro gives her some Tylenol and takes off her shoes before tucking her into his bed.

Roope wakes up the next morning with a massive hangover. She hasn’t gotten drunk like that in a while, in fact she can’t remember the last time she got drunk like that. The first thing she sees when she opens her eyes is a bottle of water and some Tylenol. 

He’s so damn thoughtful. 

She reaches to the right side of the bed but it’s cold and empty. It doesn’t take more than rolling over for Roope to realize she’s still in her dress and makeup from last night, so she pulls herself off the mattress and heads towards the bathroom for a shower.

Once the water is warm Roope peels her dress off. She just lets the water run down her body for a while, the hot water helping the headache wash away. She washes her hair with Miro’s shampoo and is relieved that he has a bottle of conditioner. 

Once her hair is clean and slicked back with water, she scrubs her body and legs before giving her face a quick rinse with the body wash.

She wraps her hair in a towel and wraps a second one around her body before heading back into Miro’s room for her toiletry bag. She unzips the suitcase and gets the smaller bag with skincare and hair product.   
She takes her hair out of the towel and scrunches in some leave in conditioner before she actually does a good scrub of her face with her face wash.  
After her skin is makeup free she applies some moisturizer and sunscreen to her face. 

As she’s rubbing lotion into the rest of her body Miro knocks on the door before leaning into the doorway.

“Good Morning. Are you feeling okay?” He asks, voice still groggy. He rubs the sleep from his eyes before running a hand through his dark hair. 

Roope nods, blinking a few times.   
He’s so cute when he’s sleepy, she missed him so much. She doesn’t know how to start a conversation with him and she hates that it’s so awkward between them. They had spent most of yesterday apart, from her locking herself in the bathroom to cry and then avoiding him for most of the party. 

And the party.

The party where Denis had kissed her.  
She didn’t initiate it but she also could’ve led him on? Her brain is frazzled trying to put it together and there was so much alcohol involved for both her and Denis that he probably didn’t mean it either. It’s not like they did anything more than kiss, and then she threw up on him. 

She definitely needs to apologize for that.  
He was so nice about it and he made sure she was okay afterwards. 

But the kiss meant nothing and with the way her and Miro’s relationship is right now she’s not sure if telling him would be wise.. but then he was so honest with her about what he did. Lying to him feels wrong but then again, it’s not lying if he doesn’t ask. 

Her brain is running a million miles an hour and it’s not until Miro waves his hand in front of her face does she realize she was just zoning out. 

“Roope? Are you okay?” He asks, tone shifting to concerned. 

“Oh, yes, sorry.. I lost my thought. Yes. I’m okay, I feel much better after showering.” She answers, which is true. Her head isn’t pounding anymore but that leaves her with nothing to distract from the current crisis which is what happened last night.

“We have an off day today so I can show you around a bit?” Miro suggests, but it sounds more like a question.   
Roope guesses this is his way of trying to earn forgiveness, which she should probably grant after last night, but she’s still not quite sure she’s ready to dive in head first.  
It still hurt.

“Yes, that would be nice. I’m excited to see the city.” Roope agrees, and smiles. She holds the towel a little closer to her and clears her throat and Miro gets the hint because he steps back and out of the room.  
She pulls underwear and a pair of ripped skinny jeans from her suitcase and starts dressing.


End file.
